I'm not posting it because it was the best dish ever. In fact, if you look at the picture of ours, it was a bit gray. I'm posting it because chopping up vegetables in the middle of winter lifted my mood so much. It's reminiscent of summer and fruit salads and lightness. And for that reason alone, I recommend making this with fresh veggies even though (and I hate to say this) it would have been just as good with frozen vegetables.
For next time, I would add celery, use frozen vegetables if I'm in a hurry, and possibly use chicken broth for my family of carnivores.
Vegetable Cobbler Recipe
This comfort-food dish has the full-flavored appeal of a potpie, with fewer calories and a delicious corn bread topping. Our recipe features a blend of seasonal veggies but lends itself to creative substitutions from what you have on hand.
Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING:
1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into a 3/4-inch dice
1 1/2 cups each of peeled and thinly sliced carrots, frozen peas, sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup each of broccoli florets, frozen corn kernels, diced butternut squash
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 vegetable bouillon cubes dissolved in 1 1/4 cups hot water
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, celery seed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
FOR THE TOPPING:
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Heat the oven to 400º. Place the potato, carrots, peas, broccoli, corn, and squash in a medium-size pot and fill it with enough water to cover the vegetables plus one inch. Lightly salt the water, bring it to a boil, then allow the vegetables to continue boiling for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse the vegetables with cold water and set them aside.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté them, stirring often, until they're soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook the mixture, stirring nonstop, another 30 seconds. Add the vegetable broth, milk, salt, pepper, thyme, and celery seed and continue to stir until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes.
Add the vegetables to the sauce and stir well. Add more salt and pepper, if desired, then stir in the Parmesan and bring the filling to a simmer. Thin it with water if its consistency is thicker than potato soup. Transfer the filling to a casserole dish.
Make the corn bread topping. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk, egg, and oil and stir until evenly blended. Spread the batter over the filling. Bake the cobbler until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbly, about 25 minutes. Allow it to cool slightly before serving. Serves 8.
Nutritional Information:
Per serving (1 cup): Calories 275Total Fat 10 g (15% DV) Saturated Fat 6 g (29% DV) Cholesterol 51 mg (17% DV) Sodium 669 mg (28% DV) Total Carbohydrate 42 g (14% DV) Fiber 4 g (15% DV) Sugars 10 gProtein 9 g (17% DV) Vitamin A (115% DV) Vitamin C (30% DV)
